Dear Rabbi Fried, I spent years as a devotee of Transcendental Meditation and was recently challenged by an old friend why I have traveled so distant from our own religion…

Dear Rabbi Fried, In religious school we started the new year with an assignment to research over the course of the school year. We’re supposed to split up into groups…

Dear Friends, I’m sure you are well aware of the recent Israeli elections, the fifth in the past four years! Without going into politics or discussing the craziness of so…

Dear Friends, I pen these words from Jerusalem on the eve of Rosh Chodesh, the first day of the month of Cheshvan, with great excitement. This is because I hope…

Dear Rabbi, I feel I’ve gained more from this High Holiday season than previous years, probably because I’ve been taking classes this year and have learned a lot about the…

Dear Rabbi Fried, I’ve often been bothered by something I have noticed on Simchas Torah in synagogue, that people who are not dancing are sitting. I know that when a…

Dear Rabbi Fried, Could you please explain what is accomplished by sitting and eating in a sukkah? We understand it is a mitzvah to do so and the kids love…

Dear Rabbi Fried, I have fasted on Yom Kippur as long as I can remember and am nostalgic about the bagels and smoked fish break-fasts with my late parents, aunts…

The Torah says, “For this mitzvah which I command you today — it is not hidden from you, and it is not distant. It is not in heaven for you…

By Rabbi Yerachmiel D. Fried Dear Rabbi, At this time of the year I am always troubled by the fact that all Jews “know” there is a mitzvah to hear…